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Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Johnny’s Selected Seeds Maine-based
Territory Representative, Ken Fine, attended the 24th Annual MOSES Organic Farming Conference held recently
in La Crosse, Wisconsin (February 22–24, 2013). This was Ken’s 12th
year attending the show as an exhibitor! Johnny’s was pleased to serve as a sponsor of the
tradeshow, as well.

Johnny’s double-sized booth was located on the corner of the third row of
exhibitors, near the entrance to the educational sessions and lunch room. Some
of the items we displayed this year at the booth were our 60-lb. JSS 'Polar Bear' Pumpkin
with an informational poster board, a video of our new Quick-Cut Greens Harvester
in action, and various informative materials about our new Salanova® Lettuce Collections.

This year we also brought our Quick-Cut Greens Harvester,
along with live pea shoots and wheat grass, so Ken could demonstrate how efficient and easy to use
the tool is to tradeshow attendees.

According
to the MOSES website, over 3300 people attended the
conference.

Participants came from all over the
U.S. and overseas — the 'most adventurous' award goes to the person
who came all the way from Nigeria! It was great to see the complete range of
ages at the conference — if it takes a village to get things done, the organic
farming community is well on its way to creating a brighter future.

Some additional highlights from the conference:

Keynote Speakers: Filmmakers Jeremy Seifert and Joshua Kunau, and organic farming pioneer Carmen Fernholz. Fernholz, who has been farming organically for over 40 years, shared his view of the ideal food system, one which includes engaged and informed eaters.

Charlie Johnson of Madison, South Dakota, was honored as the 2013 MOSES Organic Farmer of the Year. The Johnson family farm has organic roots dating back to the 1970s, well before the organic farming movement had gained serious traction.

Have a look at some of Ken's photos from the Conference, below. Whether or not you, too, attended the conference or you simply wish to share your thoughts, we'd enjoy hearing from you in the Comments section below. Or, visit us on our our Facebook page anytime!

Growers from all over New England attended the three-day Winter Conference.

Chris spoke to conference attendees about our
new-for-2013 products, including the new 'Salanova' Lettuce line and the
Johnny's-bred, AAS Winner 'Jasper,' as well as the Quick-Cut Greens Harvester. At the Johnny’s
booth, we also featured live Salanova product, grown by a Johnny’s customer in
the Southeast and shipped to Vermont, for conference-goers to see the
product first-hand. Along with the product, Chris displayed our Salanova
brochure, as well as informative product sheets on some of our newest products and existing customer favorites.

Conference attendees who stopped by the Johnny’s
booth were able to sign up for our free raffle, where one grower won a $100
gift certificate to Johnny’s. Congrats, Enrique Peredo of Two Guys Blooms in
Hinesburg, VT.

Below are a some photos of Chris’s trip, Johnny's booth, and some other great sights at the
conference. If you, too, attended, please feel free to drop us a line, share your thoughts in the Comments section, below, or visit our Facebook page anytime!

While
exhibiting over the course of two days, Ken and Liz spoke with growers from all
across New England, including Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, as well as with customers from
the New York region.

At
the Johnny’s booth, we enjoyed giving a lot of Jang Clean Seeder and Quick-Cut Greens
Harvester tool demonstrations for interested attendees. People love seeing
these tools in action!

The
focus of the conference zeroed in on the subject of marketing. Senior VP of Marketing at
Cabot Creamery, Roberta MacDonald, was featured as the ConferenceKeynote Speaker. According
to the conference
website, “[I]f you're a grower, value-added producer, new farmer,
farm store manager, farmer’s market manager, ag service provider, or just
interested in agriculture, this is the agricultural conference for you!” The
Conference offered over 25 workshops on marketing, social media, agritourism,
financing, and much more.

The conference offered a great selection of workshops on
topics such as sustainable farming, soil health, grain production, and many
others. Each morning, tradeshow attendees could additionally participate in a yoga
session! The Keynote Address, which you can read here
on the NOFA-NY
website,was given by Scott Chaskey of Quail Hill Farm in Amagansett, NY. You can also view conference programs for 2004-2013.

According to the PASA website, this
year’s conference hosted an audience of “around 2000 people
from 30 states. Attendees included over 950 farmers, and 219 scholarship
recipients.” If interested, you can also check back at the PASA website to hear
audio files from the conference, from Organic Voices.The conference offered three full days
of educational workshops, opportunities to explore the exhibitors’ booths,
social events, and more. On Friday evening at the conference, there was a movie
viewing of three films, as
well as a social hour featuring “snacks and drinks that [were]
regionally sourced.”

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Growing Ideas with Johnny's Selected Seeds

About the blog: Here's what's growing on at Johnny's Selected Seeds! We'll answer your questions, let you know what's happening at the farm, and give you plenty of ideas for growing and gardening.Johnny's Mission: To help families, friends, and communities to feed one another by providing superior seeds, tools, information, and service.